The Power of Everyday

I had big plans today about more Long Exposure technique. I wanted to either try a time lapse of the stars or a better star trails photo, this time with polaris as a focal point (and also a higher aperture). And then I started critting these last five chapters of a fellow author’s book. And then I wrote an editorial letter. And this took a lot of time. And I looked at the clock, and it showed 8:00 pm, and I was exhausted, and it is exceedingly cold outside. So if I wanted to go anywhere outside for an extended period of time, like I would for long exposures, then I would become correspondingly cold.

So I decided to just play around with an old photo instead. One that made me feel happy and content.

White balance is off, but meh. It's not bad enough for it to be an issue for me.

Back in September of 2009, Christine and I went to South Korea for about 10 days. We visited Busan, Seoul, and a city near Seoul called Suwon. The above picture was taken in Suwon, in a pretty famous “cultural theme park” called the Korean Folk Village. There, they teach silly tourists of any variety about traditional Korean life. Lots of Koreans and Japanese people LOVE THIS PLACE because it’s where they film many Korean dramas.

Here, two women spin silk using a traditional Korean wheel (SO COOL), and two young girls look on. I love the expression on the woman’s face in the foreground. Looking back on it, I’m kind of shocked that she appears to be genuinely enjoying herself and also, perhaps, flattered by the children’s attention. I think it’s easy in jobs like that to become cynical about the clientele and dissatisfied with your work. But here, at least, is a lovely instance of everyday human interaction that just kinda…glows. At least for me.

I also like the juxtaposition of the traditional clothing versus the girls’s modern attire, and the way either era could be delineated by the framing of the doorway. However, the little girl is leaning inside, as if she wants to join the past, too.